News

We, the UKCP, and other leading professional bodies have today condemned the Government and Health Education England for not collaborating on their recent publication Stepping Forward to 2020/21: Mental Health Workforce Plan for England – released at the end of July.
We expressed our concern at the time, and now we are uniting with the British …&nbsp

We welcome the newly announced details of the mental health workforce strategy but warn that the number of therapists falls well short of what is urgently needed to offset growing demand.
Worryingly, the actions outlined will be funded by £188 million worth of cuts to other mental health services followed by even more cuts in the …&nbsp

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published a consultation on new draft guidance for depression in adults.
UKCP has cautiously welcomed the draft – but still has key concerns. The new draft guidance contains recommendations for psychodynamic psychotherapy, couples therapy, and counselling which, in some ways, are improvements on previous guidance.
But, we …&nbsp

The front page of the Independent picked up our damning discovery through analysis of NHS England’s GP Patient Surveys that the rate of severe anxiety and depression in the unemployed has risen over 50 per cent since 2013.
With samples of over 700,000 people per year, the decline in mental health among the unemployed is clear. …&nbsp

The UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) has welcomed the decision of the Church of England to endorse a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Conversion Therapy in the UK.
Published in November 2015, the MoU was signed by 16 leading medical and psychological professional groups ( see full list below ) – and states that the practice …&nbsp

We have today launched a consultation which will affect our student and trainee membership grades. This consultation is for UKCP organisational members that we are inviting to share their views.
We are seeking to amend our bylaws around student and trainee membership because the way they are currently written excludes student and trainees from some of our organisational members.
People applying …&nbsp

This weekend the General Synod of the Church of England is set to debate a motion which condemns conversion therapy.
Janet Weisz, Chief Executive of the UK Council for Psychotherapy said:
“We have long held that conversion therapy is unethical, potentially harmful and not supported by evidence.
“It is great that the General Synod is debating this issue …&nbsp

Today, we expressed our scepticism of a government pledge to provide £200,000 funding for mental health first aid in schools.
Mental health first aid training is a one-day course designed to help teachers understand and identify mental health issues in children. Identifying if a young person is experiencing mental health issues is an important step in ensuring …&nbsp

The Queen's Speech today mentioned mental health in the following terms :
“My Government will reform mental health legislation and ensure that mental health is prioritised in the National Health Service in England.”
We have expressed concern that in the Queen’s Speech today, the Government failed to commit to the Mental Health Treatment Bill as promised in …&nbsp

Many of you have been contacting us to find out how you can help the victims of the Grenfell fire. Our deepest sympathies go out to all those affected by it. We would like to thank you for all your offers of support.
There have been a number of calls for volunteers circulating on social media. …&nbsp